


Family

by IRegretNothingAndEverything



Series: HLVRAI Requests [44]
Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: A lot of G-Man thinkin, Again kind of?, Character Study, Fluff, G-Man doesn't use pronouns, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, kind of?, soft angst, vaguely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27677249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IRegretNothingAndEverything/pseuds/IRegretNothingAndEverything
Summary: G-Man returns from a job, expecting nothing upon the return, and instead finds a family, that G-Man had had this entire time without realizing.
Series: HLVRAI Requests [44]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939135
Comments: 4
Kudos: 72





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> Request: Angst 8 G-man  
> 8: “Nobody’s seen you in days.”

The recent... job was exhausting. That was the best explanation that G-Man had for the things that G-Man had to do for the employers. It took a good amount of time, and G-Man hadn’t really seen any of... well, perhaps they could be considered friends. Family? 

G-Man wasn’t entirely sure at this point. 

For the longest time, the only person had been Tommy. The only person to care, the only person G-Man had to care about. The only person to worry. 

Tommy was it. 

But now? 

Well, there was Dr. Coomer, and it’s husband Bubby who... were rather close to friends, G-Man would assume. If. Well. 

G-Man didn’t like to assume. 

It’s not like G-Man had any prior experience with friends. 

Again. For the longest time, G-Man only had Tommy. G-Man’s son. That wasn’t going to be a ‘friendship’ at this point. 

If G-Man looked to Tommy’s friends... G-Man was doubly unsure where they stood in this whole. Thing. 

G-Man had heard of family trees, so perhaps that was an adequate comparison to draw here? 

Gordon was... Gordon. A father, which G-Man could find some similar experiences with Gordon, but it had been so long since Tommy was nearly as young as Joshua, and at this point, G-Man wondered if there was something... happening there? 

G-Man really didn’t understand that whole... thing. Didn’t see the appeal as it were. Didn’t often recognize the signs until it was far too late. 

Which did not bode well if G-Man was seeing the signs now. 

Benrey. There was a mess there, of course, there always had been, but there was much more there than G-Man would ever like to unpack. At the very least, they were civil.

As civil as Benrey could be. 

There was much that G-Man missed, in the time that G-Man spent away. Which... while in sections wasn’t long, altogether meant that G-Man missed quite a lot. 

That was something G-Man actually tended to regret. How much time was missed, being dragged into jobs that... really, as much as G-Man enjoyed, G-Man really didn’t want to do. 

There were some that were... okay. 

This one was just exhausting. 

The home G-Man shared with Harold and Bubby was dark when G-Man entered, the fish tanks lights out, the sun down. Time passed so strangely for G-Man that it was actually a shock that it was nighttime. 

Which was even more shocking, when G-Man glanced through the window to the other house, to find the lights still on. 

Even during Benrey’s nighttime gaming sessions, it was obvious when they were playing on the TV, as that would be the only light shining through the windows. This looked as if the lights in the living room and the kitchen were on.

Now that G-Man thought about it, the house that G-Man was in was very quiet. Which was strange. Harold snored like a train engine, and Bubby’s sleep tub made a strange whirring noise that G-Man could always hear from no matter how far away in the house that G-Man was. 

Which meant they weren’t asleep. 

Strange, since they usually kept quite a strict schedule. 

So of course, what’s a person to do here except investigate? 

Besides... G-Man did miss them. 

The other house seemed much more alive than it should at two am- G-Man checked- and there was a moment where G-Man paused, wondering if it was okay to just... walk in. 

The decision was taken, however, as the door was flung open, Tommy on the other side with wide eyes. 

“Dad!” And in moments, G-Man’s arms were full of Tommy, and G-Man took a step back, steadying, arms wrapping around Tommy tightly as Tommy clung right back to G-Man. 

G-Man looked up, rather shocked by this reaction, to find what he had expected: The science team had gathered in the larger of the two houses, piled in the kitchen and living room, with a gathered crackling power held underneath, like they... 

Had they been looking for G-Man? 

“What... is this?” G-Man asked instead, tightening G-Man’s grip on Tommy for just a moment, not quite wanting to let go, but letting Tommy step back again, though Tommy just grabbed onto G-Man’s wrist, dragging G-Man into the house. 

“We haven’t seen you in days, G.” Gordon spoke up, obviously exhausted, holding a passed out Joshua on his lap, but forcing faer eyes open to look at G-Man, who blinked back, rather surprised. 

“We were quite worried about you!” G-Man’s eyes flicked to Harold, who had Bubby standing behind it, head balanced on Harold’s shoulder, xyr eyes half closed, but unable to sleep dry. “We know you have a tendency to disappear for a few days, but it was nearly a week.” 

Time really was a mess for G-Man, wasn’t it? It couldn’t have been that long, right? 

Well, no, it could have. But why were they so... worried. 

Tommy rubbed at his eyes again, and G-Man looked to him, confusion obvious to at least him. Tommy had always been better at the emotional side of things, which G-Man always seemed to fumble, or miss completely. Tommy blinked, then grinned. “We’re your family, dad, of course we’re gonna be worried about you. All of us.” 

G-Man stared quietly, then looked around to the group, which G-Man realized was everyone, piled in various places in the living room, barely awake, and all looking to G-Man, relief in various forms across their faces, and G-Man understood, all at once. 

“Oh...” It was such a soft, gentle realization, but it hit right in the middle of G-Man’s chest, and G-Man held onto it for a moment. 

It wasn’t just G-Man and Tommy anymore, and it hadn’t been for awhile. 

There were people that would miss G-Man. 

Which really was the biggest surprise of them all, wasn’t it? 

**Author's Note:**

> Oh. I love G-Man a lot. Holds.


End file.
